Sacramento (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Sacramento |
| Original title | Ride the high country |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1962 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Sam Peckinpah |
| script |
NB Stone Jr. Sam Peckinpah Robert Creighton Williams |
| production | Richard E. Lyons |
| music | George Bassman |
| camera | Lucien Ballard |
| cut | Frank Santillo |
| occupation | |
| |
Sacramento (original title: Ride the High Country) is a western by Sam Peckinpah from 1962.
action
The aging ex-Marshal Steve Judd is hired by the Sacramento bank to transport gold from a mine high in the mountains all the way down into town. His former companion Gil Westrum and his young companion Heck, who hire out as a showman in Sacramento, offer Judd to accompany him, which Judd accepts. What Judd doesn't know: Westrum and Heck are determined to steal the gold. On the way to the mountains they meet the young Elsa, who tries to escape from her religious father in order to marry the gold digger Billy Hammond. Elsa joins the group. Once in the rough gold rush town, Elsa has to find out that Billy and his brothers, with whom he lives, are ruthless and violent. When Billy tries to rape Elsa on their wedding night, she flees to Judd and his companions and asks for protection.
The group that received the gold delivery takes Elsa with them on the way back to Sacramento against Billy's will. When Westrum and Heck try to steal the gold, Judd, who suspected the betrayal, disarmed and tied them up. Followed by Billy and his brothers, they try to reach Elsa's father's house. Judd is supported by the insightful Heck, who has vowed to surrender to the sheriff upon arrival. But the pursuers are faster and lure the group, lurking in the father's house, into a trap. Judd is badly wounded until Westrum, too, plagued by his conscience, jumps to the side of his old friend. In a duel on the forecourt of the house, Judd and Westrum shoot the Hammond gang before Judd sinks to the ground, hit again. Westrum promises the dying Judd to deliver the gold in Sacramento.
background
Sacramento was Sam Peckinpah's second feature film, after The Deadly Companions the year before. In contrast to its predecessor, Peckinpah had the opportunity to participate more actively in the development of the script in this film. He later said that as a director you should never accept a film unless you have the opportunity to rewrite the script. He'd been denied that at The Deadly Companions , but the Sacramento producer allowed him to. However, the condition was that Peckinpah did not make any structural changes, so that the director limited himself to the dialogues. Peckinpah rewrote an estimated 80% of the dialogues; he put his life experience into the changes. For example B. the character of Steve Judd was strongly based on Peckinpah's father. And finally Peckinpah made a structural change - at the end of the film.
But this Peckinpah production was not without problems either. The well-meaning producer was fired. At a preview , the MGM head of distribution is said to have fallen asleep and after the performance claimed that this was the worst film he had ever seen. Sacramento got the smallest budget of all starting MGM films for marketing and accordingly no audience could be found in the USA. Different in Europe; there the film won several awards and was critically acclaimed.
subjects
In Sacramento , Peckinpah's later favorite subject can be observed for the first time: the aging upright western heroes in modern times. Steve Judd needs glasses to read; and because he is embarrassed, he goes to the bathroom to study a contract. The times have changed. The morally high code of honor that serves the common good has become obsolete for many - it is only upheld by a few idealistic-minded people; instead, egoism , greed and ruthlessness are gaining the upper hand.
Others
Some people were involved in Sacramento who later worked for Peckinpah. On the one hand, there is the well-known cameraman Lucien Ballard , who ten years later was behind the camera for Getaway or the classic The Wild Bunch , and Warren Oates in his third film role.
In 1992 the film was entered into the National Film Registry .
Reviews
“Peckinpah's second film demythologizes the Western and, along with John Ford's The Man Who Liberty Valance, shot the Late West in 1961 . The heroes of Sacramento are tired, they need glasses and can no longer get into the saddle alone; Cars and even camels are faster than horses. "
literature
- Peter Handke : Sacramento (Eine Wildwestgeschichte) (1964), in: Peter Handke, Prosa 1, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2018, 530-537, ISBN 978-3-518-42781-1
Web links
- Sacramento in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sacramento at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sacramento. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .